Yellow Dog

We don't need Bob Woodward's book to tell us that--with regard to the Iraq War--the "stay the course" Bushistas are in a state of denial. But it is eye-opening to discover how Condi Rice blatantly ignored CIA Director George Tenet's warnings about a possible attack two months before 9-11.

From the Washington Post:

For months, Tenet had been pressing Rice to set a clear counterterrorism policy, including specific presidential orders called "findings" that would give the CIA stronger authority to conduct covert action against bin Laden. Perhaps a dramatic appearance -- Black called it an "out of cycle" session, beyond Tenet's regular weekly meeting with Rice -- would get her attention.

Tenet had been losing sleep over the recent intelligence he'd seen. There was no conclusive, smoking-gun intelligence, but there was such a huge volume of data that an intelligence officer's instinct strongly suggested that something was coming. He and Black hoped to convey the depth of their anxiety and get Rice to kick-start the government into immediate action.

He did not know when, where or how, but Tenet felt there was too much noise in the intelligence systems. Two weeks earlier, he had told Richard A. Clarke, the National Security Council's counterterrorism director: "It's my sixth sense, but I feel it coming. This is going to be the big one."

But Tenet had been having difficulty getting traction on an immediate bin Laden action plan, in part because Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had questioned all the National Security Agency intercepts and other intelligence. Could all this be a grand deception? Rumsfeld had asked. Perhaps it was a plan to measure U.S. reactions and defenses.

Tenet had the NSA review all the intercepts, and the agency concluded they were of genuine al-Qaeda communications. On June 30, a top-secret senior executive intelligence brief contained an article headlined "Bin Laden Threats Are Real."

Tenet and Black felt they were not getting through to Rice. She was polite, but they felt the brush-off. President Bush had said he didn't want to swat at flies.

Besides, Rice seemed focused on other administration priorities, especially the ballistic missile defense system that Bush had campaigned on. She was in a different place.

Tenet left the meeting feeling frustrated. Though Rice had given them a fair hearing, no immediate action meant great risk.

Afterward, Tenet looked back on the meeting with Rice as a tremendous lost opportunity to prevent or disrupt the Sept. 11 attacks. Rice could have gotten through to Bush on the threat, but she just didn't get it in time, Tenet thought. He felt that he had done his job and had been very direct about the threat, but that Rice had not moved quickly. He felt she was not organized and did not push people, as he tried to do at the CIA.

The Bush Administration ignored the threats and lost the opportunity to prevent 9-11. They can try to blame Clinton all they want, but this happened on their watch--and they turned a blind eye.

Two Months Before 9/11, an Urgent Warning to Rice - washingtonpost.com

The Bush administration has tried to distance itself from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, claiming that he had no more than two known meetings or contacts with White House officials. Turns out that estimate was a little low: how about 435?

In January, after he was indicted and there were rumors —which turned out to be correct—that Abramoff was in several photos at the White House, Bush said at a news conference, "I, frankly, don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy... I don't know him." At the time, White House officials also suggested that Abramoff had little influence or contact with them. The report cites more than 400 instances of Abramoff's team lobbying the White House.

The report makes clear that Abramoff was in frequent communication with White House officials, particularly Susan Ralston, who was an assistant to Abramoff before becoming Rove's assistant early in Bush's first term. Abramoff's clients, mainly Indian tribes, paid for skyboxes and tickets to events that the lobbyist used to host congressional aides and others, and in the e-mails, Ralston treats Abramoff like her own personal Ticketmaster, frequently asking him if he has tickets to games and leaving the impression in some messages that she occasionally didn't pay for them. White House officials are banned from taking gifts of more than $20, which would barely get you a cheap seat at any of these events, let alone a luxury box seat. Other Rove aides were shown to be in e-mail contact with lobbyists on Abramoff's staff, and Rove himself e-mailed Abramoff a few days before the 2000 elections, responding to a message from Abramoff noting that "Governor Bush is winning" by saying "Jack - I will rest much easier..." Abramoff relied on Ralston, who remains in the White House as an aide to Rove, and Ralph Reed, an advisor to the 2004 campaign who was close to Rove, to communicate his wishes.

TIME.com: Too Close for Comfort with Abramoff -- Page 1